Six Days and Six Minutes
by Undercityrezident
Summary: When May begins travelling by her lonesome in an effort to find her own, unique battle style, she finds herself encountering her rival more than she expects. But the encounters breed more than just competitive battles. A collection of six loosely connected one-shots about May and Drew's travels through the Johto Contest Circuit and beyond. Contestshipping (May x Drew).
1. It's For Beautifly

**A/N: Written for Contestshipping Week on tumblr.** **I hope you enjoy these six one-shots.**

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><p><strong>Six Days and Six Minutes<strong>

**~ Day One ~**

**It's for Beautifly**

"Let's do this!"

"Right!"

The crowd cheered as the two of them made their way onto the stage. It was unprecedented. Two long-time rivals teaming up for a cooperative appeal. Rumours spun all around about how their rivalry might've been something more, which was why Drew was initially skeptical of how he and May had been matched-up as teammates in this exhibition appeal in Kalos. It smelled of news-bait, and yet, he couldn't say he didn't find the idea of teaming up with her unappealing.

Drew and May uniformly unleashed their pokeballs into the air, revealing their two partners for this dual-appeal. Beautifly and Roserade.

"Beautifly! Into the air and use stun spore!" May commanded, her voice ringing out to the crowd as they were delighted at the sight of the two pokemon and the famous two coordinators on stage at last.

Beautifly soared gracefully into the open air of the contest hall, flapping its wings with grace and poise, with sparkles of pollen and yellow spores falling from it with every motion, draping the stage in a sparkling shroud of powder that glimmered in the light.

"Roserade! Petal dance!" Drew shouted, the stun spore drifted lazily towards Roserade, and would have adverse effects on her if it hit, but this is what May and Drew had rehearsed. With both flowered arms raised, Roserade unleashed a torrent of wind and petals towards the wafting yellowed dust and it billowed upwards until it coalesced into a fine sheet far above both pokemon.

"Silver-Wind!" May cried out, preparing for the crescendo of their joint appeal.

Beautifly maneuvered beneath the wavering layer of stun spore and interspersed petals and unleashed the crescent-shaped bug-type attack into it. The waves of wind energy poured into the sheet, curving throughout until it achieved a rotation, forming what seemed to be the beginnings of an amber-coloured hurricane laced with pink petals. Beautifly persisted, pushing the attack longer than it had ever done before.

Drew knew the moment was now. He thrust his hand up and vigorously shouted his last order to Roserade, "Solar beam!"

Already knowing what was coming, Roserade had taken the liberty of beginning to charge the attack prior to the verbal command, so that only moments passed before the light at the tips of the bouquets reached critical mass. The searing beam of solar energy lit the stage and fired upwards, striking the center of the cloud and exploding in a dazzling display which parted the clouds of spores and petals, like the rays of the sun pouring through a dispersing storm.

With a few errant petals and stray clusters of powder falling around them, May, Drew, Roserade and Beautifly all took to center stage and bowed to their frantically cheering audience. They exited soon after, May heaving a sigh of relief as she finally realized they had succeeded, though her eyes had told her the same story minutes earlier.

"Afraid it wouldn't work?"

May looked up to the green-haired coordinator who had addressed her and smiled, "I was nervous… it's the first time I've done a team appeal."

Drew nodded, flicking a strand of hair out of his eyes and continuing, "Understandable. But remember, you were teamed up with me."

May glowered at Drew, "Are you saying I wouldn't have succeed if I were teamed up with someone else?"

Drew let out a light laugh, "Of course not. It just wouldn't have been as easy for you and beautifly. Speaking of…"

The two pokemon had accompanied them off stage, and beautifly flittered forward upon being addressed by Drew.

"Here, you earned this one," Drew told the pokemon, who eagerly took the rose with its proboscis and cheered happily.

"At least you had the courtesy to give the rose to Beautifly this time around," May scoffed.

"Oh… don't worry," Drew added, getting May's attention again. He hid his hand behind him and approached May, smoothly drawing out another rose as he came close to her.

May's heart skipped a beat and he held it out gently towards her. It was only after a few moments of stunned silence that she realized she had yet to actually take it. With a slightly trembling hand, she reached forward to receive the gift. Drew gently took her hand with his other, laid the stem into her palm delicately, and closed her hand around it. He gave her a soft smile and told her, "I suppose I had one to spare for you today. After all, you trained Beautifly."

Drew's hand lingered on hers and she felt the blood rushing to her cheeks and her heart pace quickening in her chest. The sweet look on his face was one that she had seen very rarely, but cherished every time she managed to glimpse it. And the fact was, she'd never seen it when he had looked at anyone else. It made her feel special in a way the rose never could. But, when combined, the gift, the look and the touch all seemed to make the world around her vanish.

The roses may have been for Beautifly before then, but now, it and everything else, was for her.


	2. A Contest of a Different Sort

**~ Day 2 ~**

**A Contest of a Different Sort**

"Oh wow! I have to try this!"

May squealed excitedly as she saw the massive sign hung from the oaken archway marking the entry to the park. Ash had told her about this while travelling with her in Hoenn, but had neglected to mention where it was. Now here she stood, ready and eager to enter the Bug-Catching Competition.

She jogged eagerly to the line to the registration stand. She hung her head and moped as she saw the long wait ahead of her.

"You should've tried to get here earlier in the morning, May. As they say… the early pidgey gets the caterpie."

May scowled as she whipped around and saw her green-haired rival, leaning against a tree comfortably in the shade, a shade that did not extend to the line in which she now found herself. As the hot, midday sun beat down on her head, she realized that Drew had, yet again, planned ahead to avoid such a situation. It was always his way, and it always seemed to give him a step up on her.

"Drew! Why am I not surprised to find you here?" May inquired with a mix of intrigue and annoyance.

Drew finally turned his head to look at her, offering a small smile, "You shouldn't be, this is a pretty big event. If you win, you get a sun stone, but," Drew's eye took on a sly glint, "Regardless of placing, you get to keep the pokemon you catch. And I've heard of quite a few specimens out there."

May's eyebrow raised in curiosity. So that's why he was here. He wanted a new pokemon to add to his team, and Drew only picked the best. If that was the case, there was sure to be some here. And May was just as eager to find a new member of her team. One that even Drew would find impressive. With a determined look in her eye, May held her ground in line and crossed her arms, "Well, don't you worry about that Drew. If anyone is getting the best bug out there, it's gonna be me!"

Drew let out a light chuckle and flicked his hair as he effortlessly pulled himself off the tree and stood at the border between the sun and the shade. The sun lit his face and she could easily see the confident smirk on his face, "You might, but remember, it's not just us out there. I'm just the guy who's got the best chance of getting the winning pokemon. After, all," he motioned to himself nonchalantly, "I've been thinking about this contest and planning for a while now. You're just jumping in! You might have a few tricks up your sleeve, but that can only carry you so far."

"We'll see, alright!" May boasted, jabbing a self-assured thumb back to herself, toting her confidence as though there were no way she could lose.

It proved quite the wait and an equally arduous task to endure the heat, but she finally got her registration in order. She went to the tree to find Drew, excited over the prospect of showing him that she managed to sneak in into the contest with only two spots to spare after her, but he was already gone by the time she returned. Her mouth twisted into a disappointed frown. She scanned the crowd in attendance, but didn't manage to catch the tell-tale mess of green hair that usually stood out to her.

A megaphone sounded in the distance, stealing her mind away from Drew and to the task at hand. The announcement carried on about the rules of the contest, the time limit, the rumours of some uncatchable bug that had been there for years, and some odd thing about imported bugs that was lost on her as the droning speech went far too long. At last, she finally found her way back to reality as MC finally began his more excitable announcement for the beginning of the contest.

"Alright! Time to see what we can catch!" May cheered.

As soon as the horn sounded, May bolted into the bush, eager to find the best of the best faster than all her competitors. She saw no sign of Drew as she looked back to the rush of competitors behind her. Yet, she knew that he would be around. If nothing, he was a man of his word, and he intended to find that one pokemon that would assure him victory, and give him a great new addition to his coordinating team.

May made quite the ruckus tramping through the bushes, and it was no wonder she seemed to find no bug types. As she crashed through thicket upon thicket, Weedles, Caterpies and Venonats seemed to scatter into the undergrowth, leaving her in a veritable wasteland devoid of bug types.

May moaned out loudly after a time, falling to her knees in dismay and pumping her arms in frustration, "Why can't I find any! Aren't bugs supposed to be everywhere in this park?"

May hung her head, until the telltale sound of buzzing wings seemed to flutter above her. She raised her gaze upwards and found a frolicking Combee, evidently one of the imported bugs the MC had mentioned, hovering in circles above her, chanting its name cutely.

"AWWW! That's the cutest bug I've ever seen!" May cooed, "Blaziken! Let's catch it!"

Her pokeball flew forward and Blaziken, her chosen pokemon for the competition emerged, crying out its name as though ready for a fierce battle.

"Let's catch that Combee! Use blaze kick!" May commanded with excitement.

Blaziken executed the command flawlessly, but the attack hit empty air as the nimble Combee dodged and darted into the woods.

"After it!" May called. Blaziken leapt into the trees and May followed in hot pursuit. They were eager to catch this first find.

That was until they found themselves in a rather dire situation. In the confines of a small meadow enclosed by thick brush and trees, May found herself and Blaziken completely surrounded by angry Combees. Together, their voices seemed to cry out as one, booming into an echo that sent shivers down her spine.

Blaziken was not so easily intimidated, as it roared out its own name in response. The chanting Combees ceased, and drew back a little. Even in their vast numbers, the bug-types were quite fearful of the large fire-type now invading their territory.

But their expressions turned to awe and cheer as another powerful presence entered the verdant natural arena they now found themselves in.

"VESPIQUEN!"

The elegant, large, and certainly imposing evolution of Combee swayed as she glided into the meadow between the crowd of its subjects. She eyed her new challengers and readied herself for combat. Blaziken huffed out a sign of its readiness as it poised itself into a fighting stance.

"What is this pokemon?" May inquired, opening her pokedex.

"Vespiquen, the Beehive Pokemon, and the evolved form of a female Combee. It nurses the grubs of its hive within the honeycombed cells of its body. When threatened, it can use pheromones to call them out to defend or attack for her," the device informed her in its serene female voice.

The Vespiquen lunged forward, its forelegs glowing a powerful white as it took the initiative of launching the first attack of the battle.

"A slash attack!" May observed, "Counter it with sky uppercut!"

With all the speed her pokemon had become known for, Blaziken dashed towards its opponent, dragging the talons of his glowing hand on the ground as it made its approach, tearing marks into the wild grass. With expert timing, Blaziken lifted its fist upwards and broke the slash attack, driving the insect queen into the air with unrelenting force.

However, the fall that was supposed to come afterwards was cut short as Vespiquen's wings took action and halted her in midair. The queen bee glared at the grounded Blaziken with eyes that bore combative intent before she waved her arms and cried out loudly with a screech that shook the forest around them.

Seemingly out of nowhere sprung a horde of smaller bees that swarmed around Blaziken, harassing and stinging the fire-fighting type while it cried out in pain.

"What is this?" May yelled out through the buzz, pulling out her pokedex and directing it towards the host of bees currently assaulting her first pokemon.

"Attack order," the calm voice of her pokedex announced, "One of Vespiquen's signature moves. A host of small insects is called out to attack any opponent to defend her and her hive."

"Ahh! Blaziken, get out of there and hit back with brave bird!" May urged, panic gripping her voice.

Blaziken, even through the droning hum of the bees around him, heard the order and sprung upwards with its powerful legs. Blaziken shrouded himself in an energy that first glowed a bright red, then soon grew to a searing hot blue as it approached the surprised bug type.

The horde of bees fell silent and dispersed as Vespiquen fell to the ground from her perch in the sky, the aftermath of the shattering impact May's battler inflicted on her. Blaziken landed deftly on one knee and one foot, cringing slightly from the recoil of the attack. May was already readying her park ball when she saw the impossible happen. The Beehive Pokemon stirred back to life. She heaved herself up with the aid of a few flutters of her wings before letting out a shriek of challenge towards Blaziken. The fighting-type nodded, impressed by the fortitude of its opponent before readying itself in a combative stance once more.

"Wow… this one is tough," May affirmed, giving it a careful look, "But after an effective type advantage move like that, it can't be far from being beaten! Let's go again! Blaze Kick!"

With moves like lightning, Blaziken bolted forward, a leg swinging forth whilst wreathed in flame.

Vespiquen raised her arms again, crying out as though for aid. Her pleas were apparently answered as a similar swarm to her previous attack seemed to shroud her in a blanket of bees.

The blaze kick struck true, even causing Vespiquen to slide back along the ground. However, the cloud of bees dispersed and revealed that the attack had done almost nothing to harm the bug-type.

"What?!" May cried out, raising her pokedex again.

"Defend order. One of Vespiquen's signature moves. It can be used to summon a horde of insects to block or soften attacks as needed."

"Wow! This pokemon is amazing! Now, I _need_ to catch it! I can work wonders with those moves in a contest!" May trilled, hopping lightly on one foot. Her mood swapped back to a battle-ready one nearly instantly as she remembered she had to first catch the pokemon in question.

"Blaziken use overheat!"

Her contender, though somewhat tired, mustered all its power and glowed a deep red before unleashing a gargantuan torrent of flames from its beak. Vespiquen, once again, used Defend Order to call another swarm of insects to guard her. However, when the flames abated, Vespiquen seemed a bit worse for wear. The first overheat was always the hottest, and even the armour of bees couldn't defend well against it. Vespiquen huffed and panted, eyeing her opponent with defiance. In a last bid, Vespiquen raised one of her forelegs and lunged at Blaziken, the arm this time glowing with a sickly purple hue.

"Blaziken, counter that move with one last sky uppercut!"

Re-enacting the scene from before, Blaziken drove its talons into the ground, leaving a gash along the greenery as Blaziken charged forward with the attack.

The moves met and the force driving up managed to beat back the one crushing downwards. With a crunch that echoed throughout the woods, the sky uppercut made contact with Vespiquen's chin, knocking her upwards and back to the edge of the clearing. Vespiquen landed with a thud, clearly unable to muster the strength to stand once more. The combee onlookers fled with a panicked flurry of cries as they dispersed into the woods.

"All right! Let's go, park ball!" May cheered as she threw the specialty pokeball. The device hit its mark and the matriarch bee was sucked into the ball with a glow of red energy. The park ball tumbled back and forth as it tried to contain the still resistant pokemon, until, at last, a soft ping marked the capture.

"All right!" May cried out exuberantly, grasping the ball and leaping into the air, "I caught a Vespiquen!"

She dashed through the woods, eager to make her way back to the contest's starting grounds. She knew that this would be the one. She would win the contest for sure.

. . .

"And the winner is: Drew!"

May's mouth hung agape at the announcement. She saw as Drew walked up onto the stage and released his newest capture from his park ball. It materialized into a pokemon that shrieked out with a cry that seemed to burn the ears of all who heard its cry.

"Drew caught the legendary Scyther, the only of its kind in these woods, marked with a strange peachy-rose colouring on its normally, white soft-tissue. This pokemon has evaded capture for years, and has driven many a challenger in this contest to despair and defeat in their attempts to find and tame him!" the MC went on, describing his record breaking feat to the enraptured audience.

May was almost growling. How could he have upstaged her? She caught a Vespiquen! It was so beautiful and elegant and powerful!

Yet Drew had managed to best her again with some weird, off-colour, sword-swinging mantis that bested every opponent until…

"I guess that's why…" May grumbled softly, her thoughts finally settling on the logic behind the judge's choice as she watched Drew receive the sun stone.

"Our runner up is another Hoenn native! May takes second place!"

Her face lit up. Sure, it wasn't first, but she knew that her capture was certainly worth recognition. And as she made her way onto the stage, she found her spirits lifting as she saw Drew smiling at her. It wasn't his usual cocky smirk, but rather, one softer and more meaningful. It made her feel a bit lighter and less disappointed in her loss. That Drew was impressed with her, and perhaps even proud of her, was something she valued immensely, though she couldn't understand why exactly.

When prompted, May unleashed her Vespiquen, who cried her name with vigour to the audience. Its attention to the onlookers was soon stolen as it meet the steel-eyed gaze of Drew's Scyther. They glared at one another, sensing one another's strength and pride. Both seemed to enter a cautious pose, as though they each expected an attack by the other.

"Hey, May."

May looked from her Vespiquen, whose odd behaviour stole her attention, and gave Drew a curious response, "Yeah? What is it, Drew?"

"Looks like we got a couple of rivals here," Drew remarked nodding towards the two bug-types, fixed in their staring contest of sorts.

May's eyes opened wide and looked to their two bug-types, "I guess they are, huh?"

"Remind you of anyone?" Drew asked with a light laugh.

May raised a questioning eyebrow and answered him, "Huh? What do you mean?"

Drew gave her another smile, this one a mix of the usual ones he gave her, and the one he gave as she walked on stage, "Think about it, May…" he drawled. He returned Scyther to his pokeball strode past her.

"I'll see you in the Ecruteak Contest. Maybe our new set of rivals will get to battle one another," Drew added slyly, giving her a last look before walking off the stage and into the swath of people below.

It took a minute, but a look of realization passed over her face. It took only another moment for her visage to grow intense as she looked to her newest pokemon, "I think we got some training to do, don't we? We both have a rival to beat, now."

Vespiquen nodded, a wry grin spread across her face. May took a look as she saw the grass-headed coordinator emerge from the opposite end of the crowd and onto the road beyond, the same road that she would soon take to meet him again.


	3. Rivals

**~ Day 3 ~**

**Rivals**

"We're almost to Mohagany Town! The last chance for me to get my fifth ribbon!"

May stood on the path overlooking the valley town nestled between the mountains, the morning sun illuminating the verdant pastures and creating a warming golden glow. A perfect scene to start the new day.

Her pokemon gathered around her, having just finished their breakfast as they too basked in the glorious sight, and eyed with determination, the location of their next contest.

"Ready, everyone?" May called out to her companions.

All her pokemon, Venusaur, Blaziken, Glaceon, Munchlax, Delcatty, and Beautifly, called out encouraging cries of their names, a slight echo making its way down the rolling hills before May returned them to her pokeballs. With that she made her way down the declining slope of the western ridge, eager to find her way to the contest hall, and perhaps some delicious cuisine in the process.

She was barely past the town limits when suddenly, Beautifly burst from its pokeball, curiously probing the open air with its sensitive proboscis before taking off down the street without even a regard for May's current destination.

"Beautifly!" May hollered, confused as to what drew her bug-type away from her with such urgency, "Come back!"

Whether Beautifly simply did not hear May, being lost in whatever seemed to be luring it away, or if it didn't want to acknowledge May at all, her second pokemon continued to flutter down the street into a gardened quarter of the town. Despite being a rather cold location in Johto, it was the height of summer, the arrangement of flowers and plants were both verdant and in bloom. May had to take a moment to admire the sight before locking her sights on her runaway pokemon.

She had to take yet another moment to fully process just whom it had fled to.

"I knew her sweet scent was a powerful move, but I guess I didn't figure just how well Roserade had it down, did I?"

The confident voice of her rival rung out clear as day across the greenery and her face lit up brightly upon seeing him, "Drew!"

May ran towards him and Beautifly who had since ceased hovering around Roserade, the obvious source of the scent that had enraptured Beautifly. The bug-flying type landed gently on a rose bush behind Drew and began to go about the work of pollinating the flowers while the two rivals met once more.

"So… your last shot before the Grand Festival? Seems like a theme you have going there, May," Drew half-teased, flicking his hair for good measure. He watched in satisfaction as her face grew from its happy visage to a more determined form as she eagerly retorted.

"Yeah! It is! And I'm going to win this one and show you what I'm really capable of in the Grand Festival! Just you wait!"

A curved smile grew on Drew's lips, even as he looked idly at Beautifly, purposefully avoiding Roserade's smirk-laden gaze. His eyes flickered towards May yet again and he shrugged and told her, "Well, I'm still waiting, I earned my fifth ribbon two contests ago, and each time since, you said you'd win that particular one."

May's eyebrow twitched slightly, "Yeah! So what? Maybe I like keeping you in suspense!"

"I'd rather you keep me on my toes," Drew told her frankly, turning towards her and giving her his full-attention, "The more you spend time on earning that last ribbon, the less time you spend on your preparation for the grand festival, and that means you won't give me as much a challenge as you really could!"

Drew's assertive voice caught her off guard and she shrank back a bit, her confident and assured sense of self waning slightly. Of course, Drew, ever watchful of May, noted this immediately.

"But…" he began quietly, "You've never failed to surprise me. So I can't take anything for granted. That's why you're my rival. Even if it seems like you're off your game, you manage to come back, creative and as strong as ever."

May's eyes looked back up to him in surprise and with a hint of hope, mixed along with a whole mess of other emotions she couldn't seem to sort out at the moment. But one thing rang out clear in her mind: She was his rival. If nothing else, she could always rely on that to tie her to Drew. And for some reason, being an important part of his life seemed just as important to her as her prosperity as a coordinator.

"Right!" she finally spoke out, her battle-ready spirit returning to her as she finally focused on the contest at hand, "And I'll make sure that I'm the best rival you could possibly have, because you've already done the same for me, and more." Her voice dropped off into a softer tone at the last two words, unsure of herself for why she was saying, but knowing it was all too true.

It was this that caused, if only for a fraction of a second, Drew's poker face to break and a soft look of admiration, and other feelings he'd dare not reveal at this point, to make themselves plain on his features. However, he quickly regained his emotional footing and his face followed suit. He nodded and gave a glance towards the contest hall in the distance, "You'd better get some practice in, I don't want you to be rusty for the last shot you have."

May nodded determinedly, "I won't be. Will you be watching?"

Drew nodded, a grin spreading across his face, "Wouldn't miss it, I need to see what you can do after all."

May giggled, skipping over to Beautifly and softly petting it before returning it to her pokeball. She ran off into the distance, leaving drew and Roserade the sole inhabitants of the gardens.

Drew finally tore his gaze from May as her form wore away into the distance, only to be greeted by Roserade's smug smile.

"Not a word."


End file.
